Guest view: At Camp Assisium, who needs television and automobiles?

Sunday

Ah, summertime. The school break will find many youngsters visiting places such as Disney World, Enchanted Forest/Water Safari, Darien Lake and dozens of other fun destinations.

Ah, summertime. The school break will find many youngsters visiting places such as Disney World, Enchanted Forest/Water Safari, Darien Lake and dozens of other fun destinations.

Back in the 1940s, there were few choices for the summer break. It was a time before television, when the automobile was a rarity for working-class families; when family vacations were an activity primarily for the well to do; and when summers were eternally long, focusing on small neighborhood parks for recreation.
Fortunately, an affordable opportunity did exist to get away for a week or two in the Adirondacks, a trip frequently taken by bus, to a camp on Fourth Lake — part of the summer for boys and part for girls, never together.

That was Camp Assisium, operated by Catholic Charities and named in honor of St. Francis of Assisi.

During the mid-1940s, Assisium was under the competent supervision of the Rev. Joseph L. May. Later, the Rev. Daniel Lawler and the Rev. Francis Willenburg were involved with its operation. All three had significant Utica connections.

The camp was located within walking distance from Inlet, and was fondly anticipated by countless area boys and girls from its opening in 1927 until its closing in 1952, when a larger facility was built on Little Long Lake in Forestport, known as Camp Nazareth, also operated by Catholic Charities.

For a few dollars a week, $20 during the 1940s, Camp Assisium offered swimming, mountain climbing and all sorts of other summer activities, including archery, horseshoes, etc. Crafts were mostly with an Adirondack theme. Dormitory-type rooms and meals were included. Assisium was where many learned to swim, starting with the dead-man’s float in frigid Fourth Lake where lessons were held immediately after breakfast. Three nutritional meals a day were served, nothing elaborate but all quite tasty. Kitchen duty, usually on a volunteer basis by campers, helped control costs.

Early morning awakening was by bugle, with the day ending by a campfire where stories were told and much singing took place. The lyrics “day is done, gone the sun….” sung to the tune of taps, ended each day’s activities.

Because there was no TV, infrequently campers were allowed to go to a movie in Inlet, walking there of course, under supervision of a camp counselor. I remember seeing “The Outlaw,” a Howard Hughes production in which Jane Russell in her first movie revealed an exaggerated cleavage. Had Father May known of this, he likely would have ended the movie privilege. Utican Dick Chancia, who also attended, remembers seeing the movie “Mighty Joe Young,” a much-less risqué production in which the featured song was “Beautiful Dreamer.” Strange the details that can be resurrected more than 60 years later.

Of course, there are many Assisium stories, the best coming from those who attended as campers. For example, awaiting a haircut one day at the Clubman Barber Shop, just the mention of the camp caught the attention of a customer in the chair. Turns out it was John Kalil, a local attorney, who also attended there. He recalls that the caretaker at the camp was Albert Urgan, a person he described as a camp institution, arriving circa 1945 and there until it closed in 1952.

“He had a pickup truck, green with brown trim,” Kalil recalled. “It probably was 1920s vintage. I think it had a crank in the front to get it started.”

“And what’s so special about that?”

I replied, really pressing for more information and a bit embarrassed that I could not remember Urgan.
“Because he gave it a name — Petunia — and that’s what everyone called it.”

Even Carmen, the barber and my brother, had a story, one that I had heard before. When in his early teens, he went to Assisum for a week. It was his first time there and he really enjoyed it. When our father came to pick him up at the end of the week, he pestered to stay another week.

Even $20 was not easily affordable in those days, but still my father talked with the staff hoping to satisfy his son only to learn that the camp was completely booked.

This was deeply disappointing for the youngster, who some 70 years later remembers it sadly.

The mentioned clergy associated with Camp Assisium — Fathers May, Lawler and Willenburg — were all subsequently promoted to Monsignor, providing testimony to the nurturing qualities of the wholesome Adirondack air. Although no such endorsement can be made for the thousands who were there as campers over the years, it must be said that for them, it was an important experience, one that provided a reprieve from what might otherwise have been a summer of daily monotony and boredom.

Malio J. Cardarelli is the author of several books on local historical topics. He lives in New Hartford.

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